In the 1920s, pernicious anemia was mysterious and deadly. After the disease killed Thomas Henry Simpson in 1923, his wife offered $400,000 to create an institute at U-M devoted to its study and a cure.

Artist Adeline B. Mead created this northeast view of the University of Michigan, circa 1854. It shows U-M's location on a flat farm field, the second, less scenic of two options that regents chose from when locating the university.